Analysis of mating systems in the schistosome-vector hermaphrodite snail Bulinus globosus by DNA fingerprinting

Bulinus globosus, one of the intermediate hosts for Schistosoma, is a hermaphrodite freshwater snail. Multilocus DNA fingerprinting was applied in order to investigate the mating system of this facultatively self-fertilizing species. By analysing DNA fingerprints of eight broods, we have shown that selfed and outcrossed individuals could be unambiguously distinguished by comparison with their parent fingerprints. First, selfed offspring patterns shared a higher number of bands with their mother than did outcrossed ones. Secondly, at least three paternal bands could be detected per outcrossed offspring pattern.